401(k) Plan Cost Calculator: The Impact of the SECURE Act

How much will a 401(k) plan cost your business? Could starting a retirement plan qualify you for tax incentives? Use this calculator to learn what offering a Human Interest 401(k) might cost your company after accounting for tax credits.

Eligible employees include W2 employees who meet service and age requirements of the plan.

An HCE (or highly compensated employee) is defined by the IRS as an employee who earned more than $130,000 in 2020 (or 2021), or someone with 5%+ ownership in the company.

Not sure which is right for you? Refer to our Pricing page for more information about our different 401(k) packages.

Choosing to auto-enroll your employees in the 401(k) plan can open up the opportunity to qualify for another tax credit. Read more about auto-enrollment on our blog.

2021*2022
20212022
Human Interest 401(k) Plan Cost$811.00$811.00$1,872.00
Base Service Fee$300.00
Per Employee Fee$12.00
One-time Setup Fee$499.00
Tax Credits-$881.88-$881.88-$1,218.00
SECURE Act Tax Credit for Retirement Plan
-$405.50
SECURE Act Tax Credit for Auto-enrollment-$500.00
Estimated Tax Savings (25%) based on average effective tax rate for small businesses$23.63
Estimated 401(k) Plan Cost
After Tax Credits		-$70.88-$70.88$654.00
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Disclosures and Notes

  • The 401(k) Plan Cost Calculator above is not tax or legal advice and is intended to estimate the cost of a Human Interest 401(k) plan, taking into account the tax credits available through the SECURE Act as well as on the average effective tax rate for small companies (25%).
  • Cost calculations above assume a constant employee size, including HCEs and NHCEs, and that headcount doesn't exceed 100, in order to maintain eligibility for SECURE Act tax credits. 2021 costs are calculated based on the number of months remaining this year. Costs for subsequent years are based on 12 months of service.
  • Costs above reflect the cost for an employer. In addition, there is a 0.50% investment management fee and custody fee and a 0.07% average fund fee for participants.
  • Costs above do not include any special offer or promotion.

Learn more about 401(k) tax benefits

Small business 401(k) plans are more accessible than ever thanks to the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. Not only is a 401(k) employer match tax-deductible, there’s also a credit to offset costs associated with starting a plan.

The SECURE Act offers tax incentives for business owners starting their first 401(k) plan, including a $5,000 tax credit for three years that covers qualifying expenses such as setup and administrative tasks. Auto-enrollment provides an additional $500 tax credit and can help encourage employee participation.

Tax credits can add up to $16,500 and are available for three years. To qualify, your business must have less than 100 employees.

How Human Interest can help

Technology has streamlined 401(k) plan administration—which is great news for small business owners. Rather than having to worry about the nuts and bolts of plans, Human Interest can help reduce your administrative burden, driving costs down in the process. That way you can spend less time on back-end work and more time on what matters the most: running your business.

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Disclosures

Disclosures

LAST UPDATED 03/09/2021General disclosures Human Interest is a turnkey provider of employee retirement plan services to small and medium-sized businesses. Investment advisory services are provided to employee benefit plan clients by Human Interest Advisors LLC, an SEC-Registered Investment Adviser and a wholly owned subsidiary of Human Interest Inc. SEC Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.  Human Interest does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. The content on our website has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult with tax, legal and accounting advisors before hiring any providers for your plan. For information about Human Interest’s pricing, please see refer to our Pricing Page.AccoladesHuman Interest received the titles of "Best Places to Work" and "Best Startup Employer" according to third-parties, the San Francisco Business Times (as of 04/24/2020) and Forbes (as of 04/09/2020 and 03/09/2021), respectively using the following methodology:
  • San Francisco Business Times: All Best Places to Work winners are determined exclusively on the basis of their employees' responses to the Best Places to Work Survey. Employee responses from the 30 standard survey questions, along with the number of employees that respond to the survey, are calculated to determine the company’s overall score and ranking.
  • Forbes: 2020 -- Forbes and Statista selected America’s Best Startup Employers from 10,000 companies based on an innovative methodology evaluating employer excellence in three ways: 1) Employee Satisfaction: extensive research was conducted on ‘Average Length of Employment’, ‘Employee Ratings’, and ‘Quantity of Ratings’, 2) Employer Reputation: a measurement of social media success; company specific information was algorithmically extracted from social media channels such as news sites, micro-blogs, blogs and social networks, and 3) Company Growth: extensive metric calculations were evaluated including ‘Website Traffic’, ‘Job Openings’, ‘Headcount Information’, and ‘Funding Information’.
  • Forbes: 2021 -- To determine the list, Statista identified 2,500 American businesses that had been founded between 2011 and 2018 and employ at least 50 people. All companies considered had been started from scratch and not spun out of existing enterprises. Statista evaluated each organization based on three criteria, the first being employer reputation. The firm reviewed articles, blogs and social media posts pertaining to each employer, searching for specific phrases, such as “corporate culture,” “diversity” and “employee engagement.” Statista then assessed employee satisfaction, evaluating online reviews, as well as growth, examining the organizations’ website traffic and headcounts over a two-year period. The final list ranks the 500 employers that boast the best employer reputations, employee satisfaction and growth.